Reply #14: Forgot to mention his purchase of the WSJ...interesting article. [View All]

[madfloridian]

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/08/rupert_great.html

"How does Rupert Murdoch get away with it every time? Despite his storied history as a destroyer of journalistic standards, he has still managed to step in and buy The Wall Street Journal, where he will inevitably begin to suborn its journalistic credibility.

Let’s look at the deal itself. Questions are already being raised about conflict of interest after Murdoch’s company agreed to pay Dow Jones’ lawyers and bankers to the tune of $30 million. The New York Times asked: “By paying the bankers and lawyers for the family, did the News Corporation essentially buy off the advisers and, more important, did the family receive unconflicted guidance or was it pushed to do the deal by high-priced Wall Street advisers who stood to make far more if a deal was consummated?”

Do you even need to ask?

It wasn’t a surprise, either, when the paper’s reactionary editorial board applauded the deal with the right-wing mogul, going so far as to warn readers that the board set up to protect the paper’s editorial independence was more or less a charade. They noted, “readers also shouldn’t misinterpret the ‘editorial independence’ agreement between Mr. Murdoch and the Bancrofts. This isn’t intended to be some heat shield protecting Journal editors from their new owner. We know enough about capitalism to know that there is no separating ownership and control.” And boy, do these guys know about capitalism. In other news, Murdoch has already pledged a $2.5 million donation to a foundation run by a member of the impartial board."